I remember so clearly, at age six, the moment my mum said to me, ‘When you’re seven, you can start piano lessons.’ We had a piano in the house, and my brother had already started lessons. It seemed like such a boring thing to do, and I could think of many other ways to spend my time. Nonetheless, a few months later I turned up to my first lesson.

Miss Arthur, my good-hearted but somewhat fierce music teacher, placed the first sheet of notes on the stand; little black symbols that mysteriously related to the sea of keys before me. From those first notes, which involved sounding out a string of ‘middle Cs’, I found myself walking into a world that felt very natural, and actually quite fun, and little did I know it was the start of a path that stretched infinitely far before me. I didn’t need any persuasion to learn and would happily take myself away to practise.

By the age of eleven, a creative spark was finding its way into me. I would add my own ideas to the pieces in my piano books. And then the most exciting step of all, creating a new piece of music, drawing it from an invisible place and shaping it with my own imagination and inspiration. By fourteen I had begun composing what would eventually become my first album, Sketches of Light.

In my early twenties, I wandered out of the Scottish Highlands, the Sketches of Light at my fingertips. I knew nothing about the music industry but I felt I had something valuable to share, and had been told so by the few who’d heard my music; school friends, family, the community of people that had surrounded me in Northern Scotland. My album was delivered to ClassicFM, the world’s largest Classical radio station, in October 2013, and by some kind of fate, or luck, they listened to my music amongst the hundreds of releases on their desk.

They liked it, and proclaimed it ‘Album of the Week.’ Apparently, the first airing of my music caused a stir, with the station being flooded with phonecalls and emails from appreciative listeners. In fact, it was reported to have caused the biggest reaction on the station in quite some time. Within a week I was approached by Decca Records and Universal Music, but that’s a story for another time…

I’m very grateful to ClassicFM, as they gave me a foundation from which my musical work has been able to expand. I’ve been lucky to perform my music to many audiences, had it aired across multiple radio stations and to see it shared widely on the streaming platforms.

I’ve wandered through the Cairngorm mountains with Clare Balding on an episode of BBC Radio 4 Ramblings, and chatted live on BBC Radio 2 to Zoe Ball from my hilltop shed, where my piano sits happily right beside the door so when the weather is fine I can play with the door open. I like nothing more than the wind blowing over the keys, and the sun glancing over my hands as I search for new music.

I prefer a quiet life of tea, mountains and creativity. Simplicity, connection to nature, a strong, blazing hope for the future of our world - these are the things that guide my life, and which I hope are present in my creative work.